According to sources, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, after felicitating the new-elected Sena MLAs, told them that he has more alternatives to forming a government in Maharashtra.
"The Shiv Sena and the BJP will form a government, keeping Hindutva as the central agenda. However, the government will be formed only on the basis of the 50-50 agreement that the BJP top leadership had promised. If they fail to do that, let me tell you, we have other alternatives before us," Uddhav said today.
The Shiv Sena chief, without further elaborating on his 'other choices' point, added that the BJP had promised the 50-50 formula even before the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. "And now for the post of the Chief Minister, unless the BJP clears the matter before us, that too in writing, we will not go ahead with any decision regarding the formation of the government," Uddhav Thackeray said.
The Shiv Sena is demanding priority for its MLAs in the government's Cabinet that is to be formed in the state Assembly, as decided in the meeting in Matosri today. In the earlier government, Shiv Sena had offered ministerial posts to a number of MLAs of the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad), leading to great displeasure for the MLAs of the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha).
In the previous Government of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena legislators at the Maharashtra Legislative Council like Subhash Desai, Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam, Deepak Sawant, and Tanaji Sawant had remained ministers. However, Uddhav Thackeray had managed to persuade the legislators of the Legislative Assembly and has been seeking fair treatment for them this time with demands for ministerial posts from the very beginning.
